CYBR171 (2023) - Cybersecurity Fundamentals

Prescription

This course examines how cybersecurity affects individuals and society and aims to develop understanding that the concept of cybersecurity goes beyond technology to include people, information, and processes. It will examine key concepts as well as current issues and debates about how to respond to cybersecurity. Note that this course will involve using a range of security tools but does not involve programming. Students will also write short essays related to current debates around cybersecurity issues.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course will be able to:

  1. Describe basic concepts and terminology related to information security and cyber security including the adversarial mindset.
  2. Explain the relationship between cyber security and causes of cyber security failures with reference to the role of people, cultural norms, information and processes as well as technical factors.
  3. Examine and explain some of the legal and ethical issues related to current debates around cyber security, cyber crime and cyber warfare.
  4. Use basic tools and techniques for improving students own security and privacy practices.

Course content

This course is designed for in-person study, and students are strongly recommended to attend lectures, tutorials and labs on campus. In particular, some assessment items or practical hands-on labs will require in-person attendance, although exceptions can be made under special circumstances.
 
Queries about any such exceptions can be sent to remote-enrolments@ecs.vuw.ac.nz.
 
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This course covers concepts such as cryptography, authentication and authorisation, malware, network offensive and defensive technologies, social engineering, privacy and case studies.

Withdrawal from Course

Withdrawal dates and process:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/course-additions-withdrawals

Lecturers

Harith Al-Sahaf (Coordinator)

Lisa Patterson

Teaching Format

During the trimester there will be three lectures, and one laboratory per week.

Dates (trimester, teaching & break dates)

  • Teaching: 27 February 2023 - 02 June 2023
  • Break: 10 April 2023 - 23 April 2023
  • Study period: 05 June 2023 - 08 June 2023
  • Exam period: 09 June 2023 - 24 June 2023

Class Times and Room Numbers

27 February 2023 - 09 April 2023

  • Monday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn
  • Tuesday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn
  • Thursday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn
24 April 2023 - 04 June 2023

  • Monday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn
  • Tuesday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn
  • Thursday 11:00 - 11:50 – LT103, Maclaurin, Kelburn

Other Classes

Students must sign up in myAllocator for a regular one-hour laboratory session each week. Students should plan to attend all weeks.

Required

There is not required textbook for CYBR171. You can learn all the course content from the lecture notes and slides.
Some online materials are available on the course website.

We will be referring to readings from "Computer Security: Principles and Practice, Global Edition eBook (4e)" by William Stallings and Lawrie Brown. This book is highly recommended for this course and for people who want to explore cybersecurity more deeply. The print copy is available at Vic Books, and you can get it for $NZ 48.00. There is an e-book version available for $NZ 69.29 from https://www.pearsoned.co.nz/9781292220635
 
You will also be able to access an online-only version of the book via the University library (Link)

Mandatory Course Requirements

In addition to achieving an overall pass mark of at least 50%, students must:

  • Achieve at least 40% across the two tests.
  • Achieve at least 40% across the assignments and laboratory exercises.

If you believe that exceptional circumstances may prevent you from meeting the mandatory course requirements, contact the Course Coordinator for advice as soon as possible.

Assessment

The course will be assessed through assignments, laboratory exercises, and two tests.

Assessment ItemDue Date or Test DateCLO(s)Percentage
Laboratory exercise 1 (2 weeks)Week 3 (19th March 2023)CLO: 1,2,32.5%
Laboratory exercise 2 (2 weeks)Week 5 (2nd April 2023)CLO: 1,2,32.5%
Assignment 1 (4 weeks)Week 6 (9th April 2023)CLO: 1,2,420%
Test 1 (1 hour)Week 8 (1st May 2023)CLO: 1,2,325%
Laboratory exercise 3 (2 weeks)Week 8 (7th May 2023)CLO: 1,2,32.5%
Assignment 2 (4 weeks)Week 11 (28th May 2023)CLO: 1,3,420%
Laboratory exercise 4 (2 weeks)Week 12 (4th June 2023)CLO: 1,2,32.5%
Test 2 (2 hours)During assessment periodCLO: 1,2,325%

Penalties

Late submissions will receive a penalty of 10% for each day late calculated on a pro-rata basis. For example, three days late means you get 30% of your mark deducted.

Extensions

Students receive three free "late days" for which no penalty will be applied and which are applied automatically by the ECS marking system. You do not need to apply for these. Late days are used in fractions, for example, using 0.1 of a late day leaves you with 1.9 late days. Late days are provided to cope with unexpected problems. Do not use late days to cover procrastination. Extensions to assignments beyond the late days should only be sought in cases of serious personal difficulty (e.g., significant illness) and are considered on their merits. We reserve the right to ask for documentation to support your case.

Submission & Return

Laboratory exercises and assignments are submitted through the ECS assessment system. Marks and comments will also be returned through the ECS assessment system.
 

Student submitted work may be used during the formal Engineering NZ re-accreditation visit to VUW scheduled for 2024, as part of the evaluation process for the programme.

Marking Criteria

All assessment is marked by tutors or lecturers following a marking scheme produced by the lecturers when the assessment is developed.

Required Equipment

You are able to use the ECS computers for all the laboratory exercises and assignments but may find it more convenient to use your own, in which case you will need to use a Linux virtual machine such as Ubuntu with VirtualBox.

Workload

The total workload for CYBR 171 is 150 hours. In order to maintain satisfactory progress in CYBR 171, you should plan to spend an average of 10 hours per week on this course. A plausible and approximate breakdown for these hours would be:

  • Lectures and laboratories: 4 hours per week
  • Consolidating lectured material, through readings, completion of exercises, worksheets: 3 hours per week
  • Assignments: 3 hours per week

Teaching Plan

See: https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/CYBR171_2023T1/LectureSchedule

Communication of Additional Information

All online material for this course can be accessed at https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/CYBR171_2023T1/

Offering CRN: 30039

Points: 15
Duration: 27 February 2023 - 25 June 2023
Starts: Trimester 1
Campus: Kelburn